This photo shows a design on a wall at Salida del Sol Academy in Greeley. School officials concede the school stumbled in some areas in its first year in operation, but they're optimistic about its future.

We're glad the troubling and clearly inappropriate actions by a teacher at Salida del Sol Academy toward an eighth-grade girl were thoroughly investigated.

We're glad, too, law enforcement officials uncovered nothing so serious as to require criminal charges. That's the outcome that's best for the girl, the school and the community.

That said, we remain disappointed school administrators did not initially report the incident to law enforcement themselves.

In response to a complaint in spring 2016 by the eighth-grade girl about the teacher's behavior, Salida del Sol officials conducted their own investigation and did not report the complaint to law enforcement, despite firing the teacher. Executive Director Joe Melendez and school security guard Anthony Antuna — both retired law enforcement officials — investigated the incident.

Only when parents at the school complained to The Greeley Tribune about the handling of the incident did law enforcement become involved. The investigation by the Greeley Police Department determined the incident between the girl and the teacher wasn't sexual in nature and therefore wasn't criminal. In her interview with officers, the girl said the teacher touched her on the leg, but she didn't describe the contact as being sexual. The Tribune will not publish the girl's name because of the sensitive nature of the case.

Based on the evidence, the Weld County District Attorney's Office chose not to file charges against the teacher. Officials also chose not to prosecute school administrators for failing to report the incident. Colorado has a mandatory reporting law that requires school officials, doctors and others to report incidents of suspected child abuse. But in this case, authorities said, no crime had been committed, and the officials weren't legally required to report anything.

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We don't doubt that conclusion. But we think the officials have a moral obligation to reported it.

It seems clear the teacher was engaged in something untoward. There had been a pattern of questionable behavior on his part. The teacher had previously pushed the student and brushed against her during physical education classes, Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said.

"She thought those things were abnormal," Garner said. "The specific incident involving the teacher touching her leg is what brought about the complaint."

Indeed, when she spoke at a public meeting after authorities had begun their investigation, she indicated the problems with the teacher had been long-running and widespread.

"I spoke up for students who didn't feel comfortable around him," she said. "(Now) students are able to be themselves and can dress and act comfortably."

We think the girl displayed real courage, both in speaking up to school officials, and in speaking about the case publicly. We'll also note here she and her mother backed the actions school officials took when they decided not to go to police.

We question neither their motives nor their sentiment in backing administrators.

Still, we think such weighty allegations deserve the scrutiny of law enforcement. We'll point out, for example, that another far more serious alleged incident began with a report that a student and a teacher's assistant at Jefferson Junior High School were exhibiting unusually close behavior. Of course, in that case, authorities say, other witnesses also offered far more damning evidence of a serious sexual relationship between the student and the teacher's assistant. While that case still is working its way through the courts, it doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened had it not been investigated.

Ultimately, we're glad the Salida del Sol case is resolved. But we can't shake a simple question: If you're confronted with an allegation of clear misconduct by a teacher against a student, why wouldn't you go to police?